Something Worth Fighting For
by Erin Salvatore
Summary: After not seeing each other for nearly a decade, best friends Vincent and Catherine are reunited to solve a murder - and possibly discover their true feelings in the process. AU. NO BEASTS.
1. Chapter 1

**Something Worth Fighting For**

 **by Erin Salvatore**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Beauty and the Beast. I'm just borrowing. Only the story belongs to me.**

 _ **Note: The idea for this gem has been stewing around in my head for many weeks, with varying angles in which I could take it. The following is the current version of the idea. Here's hoping it sounds as good written out as it did in my head.**_

 **CHAPTER 1**

 _NYPD 125TH PRECINCT HOUSE…_

 **C** atherine Chandler sighed as she sorted through some case files on her desk. It was an unusually slow day in the Special Crimes Unit, which didn't sit too well with her. She was the kind of person who didn't like sitting still. No, she wanted to get involved in a case, anything to occupy her mind. Little did she realize, however, she was going to get her wish.

Just as soon as she placed one of the files next to her computer, Catherine looked up to see someone walking in, a very familiar someone. Someone she hadn't seen or heard from in quite a while. The last time she saw him had been at her mother's funeral nine years earlier. After that, he all but vanished from her life. What could have happened to bring Vincent Keller here?

 _Only one way to find out,_ she thought. _Go over and ask him._

Catherine got up from her desk, meeting Vincent's gaze as she got closer. "Vincent, what's going on? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to report a murder."

Catherine nodded, although not expecting an answer quite like that from him. _Well, you said you wanted to get involved in a case._ "Okay, well, let's go to the interrogation room and we'll talk about it."

Vincent followed her to an open interrogation room, glancing at her as they walked. She seemed to have gotten more beautiful since he left and it made him feel guilty. _I wonder if she hates me for what I've done? I didn't mean to leave, I needed time to think because I had kissed her and didn't want her to think I was using her mother's funeral to take advantage of her._

When they entered the room, Vincent cleared his throat. "Catherine, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"I thought you wanted to report a murder?"

"I do, but this is important."

 _What could be more important than murder?_ "Okay, I'm listening."

"I want to apologize for what happened between us at your mother's funeral," said Vincent. "I didn't know what I was thinking. It might have been the emotions we were experiencing, the fact we had a little too much to drink, or whatever. I shouldn't have kissed you, especially not when you were so vulnerable. The last thing I wanted was to take advantage of you."

Catherine bit her lip as she listened to him. Shit, no wonder she hadn't seen him in almost a decade. _He probably didn't want to make things worse by sticking around. Still, he could have called me to let me know he was okay._ "It's okay, Vincent, you don't have to apologize. I'm not mad at you. Granted, I was worried, but I'm not mad. You did nothing wrong."

For the next minute or two, there was an uneasy silence as Vincent and Catherine looked at each other. The tension in the room was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Finally, it was Vincent who spoke.

"How about we change the subject?"

"Right," said Catherine. "You said you wanted to report a murder." She took a seat at the table, Vincent following suit a second later. "Now, tell me what happened."

"You remember Alex Salter, right? The girl who hung out with us when we were kids?"

"Yes. I haven't thought about her in months."

"She...She was murdered last night." He stood up and revealed his blood-stained shirt. "I tried to resuscitate her, which is why I'm covered in her blood."

"Do you have any idea who could have done this to her?"

Vincent nodded. "Yes. Gabe Lowen."

"Gabe Lowen? The ADA?" said Catherine. "I don't get it. Why would he want Alex dead? In fact, how did they know each other?"

"Believe it or not, they were dating," said Vincent. "And, because Gabe is a high profile figure, their relationship was all over the paper. Alex didn't like it, though. She told me that she felt intimidated whenever the press was around." He sighed. "Anyway, the day she died, I got a call from her. She told me she broke things off with Gabe."

"How did he take it?" Catherine knew she was probably pushing it, but she had to know what would drive her boss to murder one of her oldest friends.

"He was furious," said Vincent. "He even accused her of being in love with me, which couldn't be further from the truth. We dated a few times, yes, but nothing materialized from it. Alex said she tried to explain herself to him, but he wouldn't listen."

Catherine saw that Vincent was getting agitated the more he spoke. She reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. "Vincent, I don't like this any more than you do. You have my word that Gabe won't get away with what he's done. I'll take him down."

"How?" said Vincent. "He'll deny any involvement."

"Maybe, but I'm not going to rest until justice has been served," said Catherine. "Alex was our friend and she didn't deserve to die the way she did."

Vincent smiled slightly. He admired Catherine's determination, especially in situations like this one, and he knew he had made the right decision by coming to her. Catherine had stood by him when his brothers died in the Towers, and he had done the same for her at her mother's funeral.

"It's going to be dangerous, you know."

"You think I give a shit?" said Catherine. "Gabe can do his worst, but nothing is going to prevent me from seeing this through to the end."

 _ **Note: Here we go, my first Beauty and the Beast fic. Hope you enjoy!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Beauty and the Beast. I'm just borrowing. Only the story is mine.**

 _ **Note: Previously, in "Something Worth Fighting For," Vincent comes to the precinct to see Catherine and tells her about the murder of their old friend, Alex Salter.**_

 _ **Hey, guys! I thought long and hard about this next installment. Finally, I came up with an idea that just may work. No spoilers.**_

 _Later that Day…_

 **V** incent returned to his house boat with a look of determination on his face. He was looking forward to seeing Gabe behind bars for the rest of his natural life, and the best part was he wasn't going to solving Alex's murder alone. He turned the key in the door and when he walked in, he saw J.T. sitting at the table, a bottle of beer in his hand.

"J.T.? How the hell did you get in here?"

"You gave me an extra key."

Vincent mentally kicked himself for forgetting such a detail. He gave his friend a quizzical look. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a class right now?"

"Normally, I _would_ be at school, but I played hooky," said J.T. "There was a faculty meeting today and I didn't want to go, so I called in sick."

Vincent didn't reply, just shook his head and grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator, joining his friend at the table. J.T. noticed how quiet Vincent was and decided to get to the bottom of it.

"You're awfully quiet over there, big guy. Care to tell me what's wrong?"

Again, Vincent didn't reply, just opened the beer in his hand and chugged it. He knew he couldn't keep this from J.T., especially not when he was like a brother to him. Finally, he sighed and decided to not keep the other man in suspense.

"I went to the precinct to see Catherine."

"Really?" said J.T. "About time you got up the courage to face her after nearly a decade." He saw that Vincent wasn't smiling. "I take it this wasn't a social visit?"

"No, it wasn't," said Vincent. "I went to see because I need her help. You remember Alex Salter, right? The girl we were friends with back in the day? Well, she was murdered last night. I knew if anyone could help me solve it and bring the killer to justice, it would be Catherine."

J.T. blinked. "Shit, that's terrible. Who the hell would be cruel enough to kill Alex?"

" _I'll_ tell you who," said Vincent. "She told me she was dating a guy she was scared of. Get this, it was none other than our ADA, Gabe Lowen."

"Cat's boss?"

"The very same," said Vincent. "And I don't have to tell you that he didn't take her breaking up with him very well. In fact, he accused her of being in love with me."

"Bullshit," said J.T. "How could that be true when you're clearly in love with Cat?"

"I really don't know, but the guy got jealous of me because we're close," said Vincent. "I'm also not going to let that scumbag get away with what he's done. Catherine said she's going to do everything in her power to arrest him."

"I have as much faith in her as you do, man," said J.T. "Though, it might be a conflict of interest, since the guy is also her boss. Hell, they might not let her work the case because it's personal for her."

"Catherine isn't one to be deterred from anything," said Vincent. "In the time I've known her, she's never backed down from something once she's set her mind on it." He got an idea. "J.T., you're an expert in technology. You can hack into the street cameras and use them to track Gabe."

"You want me to track the ADA using the street cam? Vincent, I could get caught. If I get caught, I could kiss my shot at tenure good-bye."

"Don't do it for me, do it for Alex," said Vincent. "She'd want you to help bring her killer to justice, _regardless_ of the risk." He smirked. "Plus, you might have a shot of getting a date with Catherine's partner, Tess. I know you can't stop talking about her."

"Don't you do that, Vincent," said J.T. "Don't use my crush on Tess to blackmail me into helping you in your quest."

"Blackmail you?" said Vincent. "J.T., you wound me. I would never blackmail my best friend."

J.T. gave him a quizzical look. "Why do I have a hard time believing you?" He sighed. "All right, fine, I'll hack into the damn cameras. I might get in deep shit for it, but I'm only doing it because it'll help avenge Alex." He ran a hand through his hair. "Of all the people from the old neighborhood I chose to be friends with, I had to pick the reckless Vincent Keller."

Vincent laughed at his remark. He wasn't entirely wrong about him being reckless. He always did things without thinking them through, even when they were younger. In fact, it was the prerequisite for being a Keller.

 _125th Precinct – That Same Moment…_

Catherine walked down to the morgue, ignoring her pounding heart the whole time. She wanted to avenge her friend, while at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder if this was all a joke, that this was some other Alex Salter who was murdered. But, Vincent wasn't one to lie about something as serious as murder.

"Ah, Catherine, just the person I was looking for."

She was brought back to reality by the accented voice belonging to Evan Marks, the medical examiner. "Did you find anything out of the ordinary while you were examining the body?"

"Nothing, really," he said. "According to the coroner's report, Miss Salter was the picture of health. She was also a respected doctor at New York General. It's hard to believe she would wind up being murdered the way she did."

"I agree with you on that," said Catherine. "Alex was one of my dearest friends. One of the last times I saw her were at the memorial for Vincent's brothers and then at my mom's funeral nine years ago." She sighed. "She had this dream to travel the world and heal the sick. Now that dream has been shattered."

Evan nodded. "Are you sure you want to take this case, Cat? This is personal for you, considering your relationship to the victim."

"I don't give a shit if it's personal," said Catherine. "I can't just let my best friend's death go unsolved. I owe it to Alex to bring her killer to justice." She sighed again. "Besides, I won't be alone. I'll have Tess and Vincent helping me."

Evan nodded. "I know, but I worry about you."

"I don't need you to worry about me, Evan," said Catherine. "I'm a big girl. I've handled a lot tougher cases than this in the past and came out relatively unscathed." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so harsh."

"Given the circumstances, you have every right to be harsh," said Evan. "Your best friend has been violently cut down in her prime, and you want to do whatever it takes to avenge her." He sighed. "Does Vincent have any idea who killed her?"

"Yes. Gabe Lowen, who was Alex's boyfriend. I know, I was shocked when Vincent told me, but she was dating him. Their relationship was in the paper because he's a high profile public figure. And I know he'll deny it when I confront him, but I'm prepared for just about anything."

 _ **Note: I know this isn't exactly a long update, but I wasn't sure if the idea I had for it sounded better in my head or not. Anyway, enjoy what I've given you.**_

 _ **ENJOY THE UPDATE AND REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**_


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